Fans of high school sports in Northern Virginia -- and the rest of the state, for that matter -- suffered an absolutely huge loss Wednesday.

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You might not have known it, but longtime Associated Press sports editor Marshall Johnson, a Manassas native, was the man who tirelessly and lovingly chronicled statistics, records and other things no one else did and gave context to what you were reading.

Here's a part of a moving obituary from Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter Joe Macenka, who worked with Johnson at the AP's Richmond bureau:

"Wheatley Marshall Johnson, a World War II aviator who was known outside the bureau for his decades-long devotion to being the gatekeeper of records for high school football and basketball in Virginia. . . died late Wednesday in hospice care at age 92, barely two months after the passing of his wife of 67 years, Shirley Wright Johnson.

"When Mr. Johnson was inducted in 1997 into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, the group correctly noted that he "was recognized as a walking encyclopedia of Virginia high school sports." http://bit.ly/WZoTM6